CA1183661A

CA1183661A - Chimney cleaning system

Info

Publication number: CA1183661A
Application number: CA000394292A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Robert G. Korfmann; Richard C. Bennett
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-01-19
Filing date: 1982-01-15
Publication date: 1985-03-12
Also published as: US4365382A

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A chimney cleaning system which can be operated from the ground and which does not require the user to climb a ladder to the top of the chimney includes a cleaning head constructed of a number of sections of iron or like material connected together by support members of length appropriate to the particular interior dimensions of the chimney to be cleaned and suspended by a chain or cable from a tubular support member which is adapted to align the cleaning head within the chimney or flue and to Provide a guide for the cable to the ground for ready access by the user without the need for pulleys. An anti-down draft cap may be mounted at the end of the tubular support member immediately above the chimney opening to enhance the operation of the chimney system. The anti-down draft cap mounts to a support means on the end of the tubular support member. The tubular support member is mounted to the outside of the chimney by stainless steel bands or the like.

Description

1 The present invention relates to chimney cleaning

2 apparatus and more parti~ularly to chimney cleaning apparatus i,

3 including a cleaning head o efficient design to more

4 thoroughly clean chimneys and chimney flues.
In the prior art there are a number of chimney 6 cleaning systems which may be opera~ed from the ground by the 7 user. However, the prior art systems all have one or more 8 disadvantages relating to the efficiency of the cleaning, ease 9 of operation or complexity of the mechanical apparatus. The ~`,10 following United States Patents illustrate the prior art.
11 U.S. Patent 1,030,733 shows a chimney cleaner which 12 employs a concrete block having a number of wire brush 13 elements embedded within the sides of -the concrete block for 14 wiping the interior surfaces of a chimney or chimney flue, the 15 concrete block having a weight element suspended below it and 16 the block being supported by a cable through a tubular support 17 member having a number of pulleys therein for supporting and 18 moving the support cable. I'he patent further shows a drum and ¦
l9 rachet arrangement to allow an operator at ground level to 20 move the cleaning block up and down within the chimney flue.
21 The major disadvantage of the apparatus shown in this 22 patent is that the cleaniny head is in the form of a concrete 23 block with wire brushes attached which effectively blocks the 24 flue during use and does not allow exhaust gases to pass.
25 Therefore, the cleaning head cannot be left within the flue 26 nor above the flue while the chimney is in use. The method of 27 use as indicated in the patent requi,res that a weighted ball 28 or the like be attached to -the cable through an opening in the i ~ , i 1 lower part of the flue and then the weighted ball be cranked 2 to the top oE the ~ubular support member while the chimney is 3 used to exhaust gases. The apparatus of this ratent is very 4 cumbersome and is rather inconvenient to use.
., l U.S. Patent 1,054,924 shows a chimney cleanin~ brush 6 which is spring mounted and is forced by the spring from the 7 hottom of the chimney Elue upwards and when it is pulled down 8 the bristles of the sweeping body rub along the walls of the 9 chimney and scrape ofE soot and other collected material. The 10 cleaning apnaratus according to the patent does not have a 11 mechanism which is simple in construction and readily operated 12 by a user from ground level. Also, the spring loaded brush 13 mechanism is less efficient in cleaning than a rigid surfaced 14 cleaning head.
i5 U.S. Patent 1,475,229 teaches a chimney cleaner which 16 includes a tubular guide pirpe and a pulley arrangement and 17 further includes a wire brush head -Eor cleaning a chimney or 18 flue.
19 The apparatus of the patent is com~lex, ackward and 20 does not provide as thorough cleaning of an interior surface 21 of a chimney as does a rigid cleaning head.
22 IJ.S. Patent 1,758,950 teaches a chimney cleaner haviny 23 a plurality of spaced scrapers mounted on a spindle. The 24 chimney cleaner of the patent must be completely removed from 25 the chimney when not in use since the scrapers are of solid 26 construction and would block the flow of exhaust gases up the 27 chimney 28 U.S. Patent 1,770,436 sho~rs a chimney sweeping ~i 1 apparatus em~loying a solid block for supPorting a number of 2 wire brushes or the like having a soot collection pan 3 mounted beneath the brush block. The apparatus of this patent I
4 like that of U.S. Patent 1,030,733 must be completely removed

5 from the chimney so that the chimney may be used to exhaust

6 gases since the brush block is of a solid construction and

7 would not permit the passage of exhaust gases.
I, 8 U.S. Patent 4,028,769 shows a chimney cleaning 9 apparatus including a cleaning head which is lowered by a ~'110 cable or ro3?e from a pulley into the inter:lor of a chimney to ll be cleaned. Weights are added to the cleaning head to enhance ~112 the cleaning action of the device.
¦l 13 The cleaning device according to the patert has many 14 of the disadvantages as discussed previously with respect to 15 U.S. Patent 1,758,950.
16 U.S. Patent 4,090,297 shows a chimney cleaner designed ¦
17 to be lowered through a chimney from its upper end including

8 scrubing elements and chopping elements for removing soot, 19 tar, mortar and the like from the interior walls of the ~20 chimney. The scrubing elements are adjustable to clean ~21 various si~ed chimney flues.
¦22 The structure cleaner according to the patent has ~! 23 scrubing elements only on two surfaces of the chimney cleaner !1 24 which would require in a rectan~ular chimney additional passes 25 with the chimn~y cleaner mounted at a ninety degree angle to a 1~26 first pass or passes to completely clean the sides of the jl27 chimney.
28 U.S. Patent 4,185,351 relates to a chimney cleanlng ~
Il !

l apParatus having a catch assembly for enabling an operator 2 standing at ground level to lock the cleaniny device into 3 fixed position within the flue and to quickley and safely ~, 4 remove the cleaning device from its locked position by action of the operator from the ground. The patent does not ', 6 specifically teach a chimney cleaning systemr but rather an 7 accessory latch arrangement for a chimney cleaning system.
8 U.S. Patent 4, 208, 756 rela-tes to a chimney cleaning

9 system which is permanently installed in a chimney and which ~10 is operated by a cord and pulley system from an interior base ~,~11 opening of the chimney. The patent also shows a soot 'i12 collection hag mounted below the sand bag scra~ing means.
,~,13 The apparatus of the ~atent must be operated from the 14 inside of the chimney flue at the base thereof and is not 15 readily operable or accessable by an operator from the outside 16 of the chimney.
17 Each of the above identified prior art patents has one ~18 or more disadvantages in cleaning efficiency and in ease of 19 operation.
~20 Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to ,21 clean a chimney with a chimney cleaning system which includes ~¦22 a cleaning head constructed of a number of cleaning blades ~23 attached by supl?ort means in a confi-Juration which matches the ~¦24 configuration of -the flue or chimney to be cleaned and ~25 suspended by a cable or the like within a chimney or flue by a 26 tubular support member which provides a conduit for the 27 support cable to a ground location where the system may be 28 easily operated by the user. The tubular support member is ij~ i, _.5_ ~1 !

1 adapted to mount an anti-draft cap at an end thereof to reduce 2 down drafts in the chimney.
3 It is another object of the present invention to clean 4 a chimney with a chimney cleaning system as above wherein each I
5 of the cleaning blades are formed in a manner so as to provide ' 6 maximum cleaning efficiency as the cleaning head is raised and 7 lowered within the chimney.
8 It is yet another object of the present invention to ,' 9 clean a chimney with a chimney system as above wherein the

10 cleaning head may be left within the chimney flue while the ll chimney is being used to exhaust gases without impeding the ~12 flow of the exhaust gases.
'13 Accordingly, a chimney cleaning system includes a 14 cleaning head constructed of a number of cleaning blades, the 15 cleaning blades having pointed ends on both top and bo-ttom of 16 each blade and the blades being attached by a support means in ~17 a configuration adapted to the configuration of the interior ill8 of a chimney or chimney flue, and wherein the cleaning head is ~l9 suspended by a cable or the like within the chimney or flue by 20 a support cable which passes through a tubular support memher ~21 to the ground so that the chimney may be readil~ cleaned by 22 the user from the ground in an efficient manner and wherein 23 the chimney cleaning head is of a design and construction to ~24 permit the head to be left in the chimney while the chimney is 25 in use -to exhaust gases without impeding the flow of the ~¦26 exhaust gases. The tubular sup~ort member is adapted to mount ~27 an anti-draft cap at an end thereof to reduce down drafta in 28 the chimney and to protect against rain or other 1, 1 1 precipitation from ~assing down the chimney.
2 The present invention will be further described by way 3 of example with reference to the following description and 4 with reference to the accompanying drawings in which;
Figure 1 is a side view of a cleaning system according 6 to the present invention including a ~artial section view of ` 7 the interior of the chimney or flue showing the cleaning 8 head.
9 Figure 2 is a side view of an alternate embodiment of '10 a cable support member to be used with the present invention.

11 Figure 3 is a side view of a cleaning head according

12 to the present invention.
~13 Figure 4 is a to~ view of the cleaning head shown in 114 figure 3.
Figure 5 is top view of anti-down draft cap to be used l~ with the present invention.
17 Figure 6 is a side view of the tubular support member 18 of the present invention with the anti-down draft cap shown in l9 figure 5 in place.
~20 A chimney cleaning system which is designed to be left 21 in a chimney and which is readily operated from ground level ~22 to provide an efficient cleaning of a chlmney is shown in ~23 figure 1. Chimney 10 includes a centrally located flue 12 for ~24 the passage of exhaust gases from a heating system (not shown).
~,26 In many heating systems which use wood as a fuel, 27 creosote and other combustion pxoducts tend to build up on the i 28 inner walls 14 of flue 12 and can in certain situations ignite ' i .
~i' l causing chimney fires.
2 To eliminate the creosote and soot build up in chimney 3 flues, it is customary to clean a chimney flue on a regular 4 basis during the heating season. The prior art described 5 above shows many s~stems for cleaning chimneys but all have a 6 variety of disadvantages which are overcome by the present 7 invention.
8 A cleaning head 20 is suspended by cable 22 from 9 tubular support pipe 24 which has an opening 26 aligned with o the central axis of flue 120 11 Support pipe 2~ is fastened to chimney 10 by clamps 28 12 and bands 30 which pass around the outer Perimeter of chimney

13 lO.

14 Cable 22 which may be a galvanized air craft cable or

15 similar steel cable passes through tubular support pipe 24

16 exiting at the bottom end 32 thereof and extending to ground

17 level where an operator would have easy access to the cable to

18 pass cleaning head 20 up and down within flue 12 ko clean the l9 interior surfaces of flue 12.
Referring now to figure 2, a second embodiment of 21 tubular support pipe 24 is shown which has a stxaight portion ¦
22 36 in curved portion 34 of pil?e 24 to extend the opening 26 to 23 the center of larger chimneys or chimneys where the flue 12 is 24 displaced further from an edge 40 of chimney 10 than is shown 25 with the embodiment of figure l.
26 Referring now to figures 3 and 4, the cleaning head of 27 novel design according to the present invention will be 28 described.

~, .

Cleaning head 20 includes in the embodiment shown in 2 figure 1 four iron corner pieces 50 having pointed blade 3 portions 52 at the lower end thereof and blade portions 54 at i 4 the upper end thereof. The iron pieces 50 are joined by 5 support members 56 which may be flat iron stock and fastened ` 6 by bolts 55. Cleaning head 20 in a most co~unon embodiment 7 weighs about twenty pounds which is sufficient weight to 8 loosen and remove accumulated creosote and other build up on 9 the sides of~ 14 of flue 12.
Since cleaning head 20 is in essence an open frame 11 having blades at the corners thereof, 1ue exhaust gases can 12 pass through it unimpeded, thus Permitting the cleaning head , 13 to remain in the chimney flue 12 while the chimney is being 14 used to exhaust gases.
Referring now to figures 5 and 6t the anti-down draft Il 16 cap will be discussed. A circular sheet metal element 60 i 17 having a centrally located hole 62 therein, the diameter of 'I 18 hole 62 being just large enough to pass around the outside of 1 19 support pipe 24. The anti-down draft cap 60 further having 20 slots 64 running radially from center hole 62 to -the outer rim 21 660 The number of slots may be four or eight with no ~22 significant change in eEfectiveness. I:n use (see 1gure 6) 23 anti-down draft cap 60 is slid over }?ipe 24 and is suppor-ted 124 by end cap 26 at a predetermined elevation above the flue 12.
¦25 The diameter of anti-down draft cap 60 must be large enough to ¦
26 completely cover Elue 12 and protect against down drafts and 27 against precipitation passing down the flue 12.
i,28 Anti-down draft cap 60 may also include a neck 68 ~, 1 having a set screw 70 which may be tightened against support 2 pipe 24 to hold the anti-down draft cap 60 firmly in place.
3 While the present invention has been described with 4 reference to preferred embodiments thereof r it is understood 5 by those skilled in the art that various changes ln form and 6 application of the novel Chimney Cleaning System may be made 7 without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

,i 10 ,l12 ~18

19 . ~120 ~22 ~23 ~26 ;28

Claims

WHAT I CLAIM BY LETTERS PATENT

1. A chimney cleaning system, for cleaning the interior of a chimney of predetermined rectangular plan form, having a cleaning head substantially corresponding in plan form with said chimney interior, for passage longitudinally therethrough, cleaning elements secured to the sides of said head and ex-tending longitudinally thereof having blade portions located at least at one end thereof to remove soot accumulations extending inwardly from said chimney interior, on passage of said head therepast, head support means securing a supporting cable in supporting relation with said head, including position-ing means for retaining said head within said chimney during operation of the chimney, said head being hollow, for the sub-stantially unobstructed passage of exhaust gases therethrough.

2. A chimney cleaning system according to Claim 1 further comprising an anti-down draft cap affixed to said positioning means and positioned at a predetermined distance above a top of said chimney for reducing down drafts into said chimney and for protecting said chimney from rain and other forms of precipitation.

3. The chimney cleaning system as claimed in Claim 1, each said blade portion being inclined downwardly to form a point at the lower extremity of said head, at the corners of said rectangular plan form.

4. A chimney cleaning system according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning head is constructed of a plurality of ferrous metal sections, each of said sections having a pointed lower end for more efficiently removing soot and creosote from an inner surface of said chimney.